New verse by Wellington writer and college student, Mira Karunanidhi. The Universe we once had a conversation about the universe and i told you i like to think that space is infinite that it has no beginning middle or end but like most things it has to end somewhere in the same … Read more
Roy Colbert reviews Women of the Catlins: Life In The Deep South Women have always done it hard in the Catlins, a, I was going to say a remote and difficult area on the South Island’s south-east coast, but the people who live there would have none of that. For townies, it would be remote, harsh, … Read more
Peter Wells reviews Our Young Man by Edmund White. Can an author write too much? A glance down the inside page of Edmund White’s new novel discloses either a staggering productivity (13 novels, six works of nonfiction, three biographies and four memoirs) or an author’s unstoppable urge to create. His seminal A Boy’s Own Story … Read more
There are some lovely lucid moments in Fiona Kidman’s latest novel, says Charlotte Graham, and it’s a reminder that “you’re reading a boss”. If only the book was longer. Dame Fiona Kidman told an interviewer recently that she thought barreling through seven decades of New Zealand history with “a story integrated” was “an interesting exercise … Read more
Peter King caused an enormous and very welcome stir last week when he mounted a passionate free-market argument which attacked the Book Council, academics, librarians, the Listener, the Spinoff, Creative New Zealand, intellectuals, wine drinkers, cheese eaters, oh yes and writers – basically everyone who runs the seething little village of the literary power elite. Time … Read more
The best-seller chart at Unity Books for the week just ended: September 16 WELLINGTON STORE 1 Hera Lindsay Bird (Victoria University Press, $25) by Hera Lindsay Bird Verse. 2 Nutshell (Jonathan Cape, $38) by Ian McEwan “Nutshell assumes its readers will be literate, thoughtful and cultured. You have to like that.” David Hill, New Zealand … Read more
All week we’ve revisited the Mervyn Thompson Affair – the strange, powerful 1984 incident when six women abducted an Auckland university lecturer, chained him to a tree in Western Springs, and labelled him a rapist. We conclude the series with a personal essay by Talia Marshall. A while ago Steve Braunias at The Spinoff emailed … Read more
All week we revisit the Mervyn Thompson Affair – the strange, powerful 1984 incident when six women abducted an Auckland university lecturer, chained him to a tree in Western Springs, and labelled him a rapist. Today: a modern take on the incident, and its wider implications, by former MP Holly Walker. I think the six … Read more
All week this week we revisit the Mervyn Thompson Affair – the strange, powerful 1984 incident when six women abducted an Auckland university lecturer, chained him to a tree in Western Springs, threatened to castrate him, and labelled him a rapist. Today: a memoir by playwright Renée, whose play Setting The Table inspired the attack – … Read more
All week this week we revisit the Mervyn Thompson Affair – the strange, powerful 1984 incident when six women abducted an Auckland university lecturer, chained him to a tree in Western Springs, burnt his flesh with lit cigarettes, threatened to castrate him, and labelled him a rapist. Today: an essay by Thompson’s friend, novelist Stephanie Johnson. Trigger warning: … Read more
This week we revisit the Mervyn Thompson Affair – the strange, powerful and polarising 1984 incident in which six unknown women abducted an Auckland University lecturer, chained him to a tree in Western Springs, burnt his flesh with cigarettes, threatened to castrate him, and labelled him a rapist. Today, Steve Braunias introduces an extract from Thompson’s memoirs. Trigger … Read more
The best-seller chart at Unity Books for the week just ended: September 9 AUCKLAND STORE 1 Three Cities: Seeking Hope in the Anthropocene (Bridget Williams Books, $15) by Rod Oram “With economies stagnating, politics polarising, societies shattering and ecosystems suffering, I felt an urgent need to go walkabout last September….” Ace business journo Rod Oram … Read more
Late last year the Spinoff Review of Books invited Colin Craig to submit some of his poetry. He sent three works; we posted One World in November, and today publish his poem titled TV. TV Square box, square message, square minds, main stream conformity, Buy me, have me, consume me, spend with great enormity. … Read more
Sarah Laing reviews The Tidal Zone by Granta Books novelist Sarah Moss. I left this book lying around decoratively before I read it. I snapped a picture and posted it on Instagram. It had such a beautiful cover – an adolescent girl who might have escaped from a Vermeer painting, and lost her pearl earring on … Read more
Wyoming Paul reviews Dear Mr M, the latest novel by Herman Koch, who once again dissects middle-class urban professional fuck-ups. Mr M’s downstairs neighbour is listening when he takes a shower. He’s imagining the scene at his dinner table and the look on M’s wrinkled face when he makes love to his much younger wife. … Read more
Dan Kelly reviews Far and Away: Reporting on the Brink of Change, a collection of reportage by superstar US foreign correspondent Andrew Solomon. The task undertaken by Andrew Solomon in Far And Away, a collection of travel writing and reportage spanning 25 years and some 23 countries, is more than the urge to document and bear … Read more
Sunday Star-Times sleuth Kelly Dennett writes about the true crime book she’s very nearly completed as winner of the 2016 The Surrey Hotel Steve Braunias Memorial Writers Residency in Association with the Spinoff Award. Her prize was $500, pizza vouchers, a free roast meal – and a week’s accommodation at the luxurious and intellectually stimulating Surrey Hotel. In … Read more
The best-seller chart at Unity Books for the week just ended: September 2 WELLINGTON STORE 1 The Sympathizer (Corsair, $28) by Viet Thanh Nguyen This powerful novel, which won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, has been in the top 10 for months, and now climbs to number one in both of Unity’s stores. Word … Read more
New verse by Jungian therapist and writer Michael Harlow. The late news This little boy with his new number-one haircut, his heart full of surprise, clutching his end-of-the-year report card to his chest, crossing High Street for the last time—without looking both ways His black and white dog, her snappy tail on fast forward … Read more
Mary Macpherson reviews a massive new photography book devoted to the subject of loving, hating, joyous, miserable families. Take a deep breath before diving into this book. The bitter-sweet experience of family life is laid bare in over 300 photographs across nearly 40 portfolios. The trumpeting of quantity is part of the Photography Now series marketing … Read more
A tribute to writer Russell Haley by Ian Wedde. For Jean and Ian Haley Russell Haley died in the morning on July 4. It may seem inappropriate to follow this by saying that he was the funniest man I’ve ever met, but it feels right. You can’t be as funny as Russell was without being … Read more
Last Monday we ran a piece by Joan Druett on her new biography of 19th century sea captain William ‘Bully’ Hayes, who roamed the Pacific and New Zealand. Michael Field was among those who were concerned that it failed to properly address Hayes’s involvement in ‘blackbirding’; we asked him to write an essay in response … Read more
The best-seller chart at Unity Books for the week just ended: August 26 AUCKLAND STORE 1 White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World (Text, $37) Geoff Dyer Reliably unreliable narratives. 2 Things That Matter: Stories of Life & Death from an Intensive Care Specialist (Allen & Unwin, $37) by Dr David Galler Op lit. 3 The Girls (Chatto & … Read more
To mark National Poetry Day, Steve Braunias reveals his correspondence with one of the world’s most celebrated poets. A few weeks ago I thought: hm I know, let’s see if any of the world’s most well-known living poets will write a poem for the Spinoff Review of Books. I drew up a list and got in … Read more
Steve Braunias runs deep surveillance on the judges of the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Here come de judge! A dozen of them, as the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards today announces the “12 eminent academics, writers, journalists, librarians, curators, commentators and booksellers” who will judge next year’s awards. Writers who are eligible … Read more
Stephen Daisley will speak in Christchurch and Dunedin this weekend about his novel Coming Rain, which won the 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards book of the year. But is it actually any good? Owen Marshall slips on his gown and his powdered wig, and passes judgment. The strongest and best expressed relationships in Stephen Daisley’s award-winning … Read more
On Monday we ran a piece about 19th century sea captain William Hayes by his biographer, Wellington historian Joan Druett. Some readers were appalled it made no reference to his involvement with slavery, or “blackbirding”. The story was pulled. We have reposted a slightly amended version today – and await a review of Druett’s book by journalist Michael Field, who was among those angered … Read more
Craig Sisterson interviews exciting new crime writer Ray Berard, a hot favourite to win one or even two Ngaio Marsh Awards in Christchurch this weekend. The giant driver of the battered Bluebird didn’t need to screech the tyres or slam the door to announce his presence as he parked on Pukuatua Street in Rotorua. Unfolding himself from … Read more
Linda Burgess examines the case of American novelist Cathleen Schine, who seems more famous for leaving New Yorker film critic David Denby for another woman than she does as a writer who is adored by Meg Worlitzer and Alison Lurie. One of the things you can judge a book by are the author’s acknowledgements. If … Read more